49ers' new Levi's Stadium making progress

SANTA CLARA -- At 80 percent complete, Levi's Stadium is approaching the cosmetic-touches stage, some seven months until the 49ers' official home opener in what's expected to be a Week 2 matchup on "Sunday Night Football."

"We're right about where we expected to be," project executive Jack Hill said Wednesday as he ushered select media on a stadium tour.

Most of the heavy lifting appears done, and now it's as if they're putting lipstick on, well, a newly discovered supermodel.

Six months remain before the stadium hosts its first event: an Aug. 2 soccer game between the San Jose Earthquakes and Seattle Sounders FC.

The 49ers will play two exhibition games there in August before a probable two-week break ahead of its regular-season unveiling. (The NFL schedule typically is released in April.)

Two years after the stadium's groundbreaking, sod will be placed down in April, a strand of Bermuda called "Bandera" that's supposedly "shade tolerant" and able to "rebound quickly." The grass is being grown two hours east in Livingston, which is some 10 miles away from quarterback Colin Kaepernick's childhood home of Turlock.

Also in April, the final seats are expected to be installed, and team and stadium staff will begin moving into offices inside the stadium, which is a mere 13 feet from the 49ers' long-time training facility.

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Here are other notes gleaned from the two-hour tour:

Call it an oddity rather than a design flaw, at least for now: When the 49ers walk out of a midfield tunnel and onto the field, they'll first have to cross through the visitors' sideline. Same goes for their opponents on the other side of the field. "They'll cross. We haven't figured it out just yet," 49ers chief operating officer Al Guido said.

That behind-enemy-lines entrance conceivably could happen just for pregame warmups when the teams follow hallways adjacent to elite clubs so fans can see them. Both teams likely will come out through tunnels at opposing corners of the stadium, however, in pregame introductions, team president Paraag Marathe added.

The 49ers' locker room looks four times bigger than their old digs at Candlestick Park, and about twice as spacious as their current one at their training facility, which still will be used as a changing room because of its proximity to the practice fields. As for the visitors' locker room, Hill joked that "we'll paint it pink and give it no AC or heat," then added: "Believe it or not, they'll get treated well, too."

A ribbon-cutting ceremony likely will take place at the end of July, Guido said.

A team museum and store will be situated in the stadium's northwest corner, near one of the three main entrances. Life-size statues of the 49ers' Hall of Fame members will be on display inside the 20,000-square-foot museum, which will be open seven days a week, as will the team store.

The stadium's east-side fixed signs are the most likely option to display a "Ring of Honor" featuring those who've had their numbers retired.

A visit inside one of the 108 suites on the west-side tower revealed that only televisions, seats and artwork still needed to be installed. One cool feature of the suites: retractable windows. There are 68 suits on the "horseshoe" side of the stadium, between the decks.

The stadium offers the league's largest lower-level bowl with 45,000 seats amid 35 rows, Guido said. The upper deck has 18,000 seats. About 60 percent of the red, slide-able plastic seats have been installed.

Aside from posters of Bill Walsh and the Giants inside a service elevator, there wasn't a whiff of Candlestick Park nostalgia. Not yet, at least.

The open concourse will offer great views of the field. As for the scenic views outside the stadium, it's a panoramic shot of the Santa Clara Valley, starting with California's Great America amusement park next door.

The plaza areas promise to serve as a solid place to congregate, at least until temporary seats are put their for the Super Bowl in two years to increase capacity from about 68,000 to 73,000.

Walking bridges are in place above the west-side concourse, and they lead to the "Levi's 501 Club" loft lounge.

Across the hall from the players' locker room will be a press-conference room with theater seating. Nearby is a media work room that is at least four times as big as the portable trailer where media has been stashed the past decade.

Some 3,000 television monitors will be installed around the stadium, though some will serve as menu offerings at concession stands.

A "beer-garden" concession stand on the west side offered six taps per station — and there were at least six stations.

The press box offers three levels for the media, along with an expansive dining and television-viewing area.